About Me

Born in the late 60's, Chesy hails from a Welsh mining village with a long name and was pretty glad when he got the Hell out of there. He got into Rock/Metal in about 1980, thanks to a TISWAS related incident (Rainbow video for All Night Long) and thankfully has never looked back.
Chesy often sang solo in the school choir, but thanks to a puberty related incident his voice is now completely bolloxed, although in his own head Paul thinks he sounds like a blend of Coverdale and Dio (R.I.P).
He was brought up on the classics - Deep Purple, Rainbow, Thin Lizzy, Rush, Whitesnake and loved melodic rock and the Hair Bands of the 80's. (Nowadays, he has progressed a little and prefers a more technical and/or progressive metal - Dream Theater, Rush, Symphony X, Porcupine Tree, Pain Of Salvation, Spock's Beard. He hates Black and Death Metal (can't stand the grunting) but for some unknown reason loves the magnificent Opeth! He wont stop this blog until his beloved FM finally play the likes of the NEC as a headlining act!!!

Monday, 30 May 2011

Ozzy Osbourne - Diary Of A Madman (Legacy Edition)

This sounds more like it! ‘Legacy Edition’ – much better than ‘remastered 30yrs anniversary version’ (which should have been last year by the way!). As stated on my ‘Blizzard’ review, Ozzy had gotten fired and had been given the much needed kick up the arse his career deserved. Sharon Arden had stated her intentions to manage Ozzy, and how it worked out. Sharon was THE driving force behind Ozzy who would have probably faded into oblivion given his own personal issues. I could be writing a 30 year commemorative piece instead of an album review.

Before Ozzy took the’ Blizzard Of Ozz’ tour out to the American audiences in April 81, the band went back to Ridge Farm to record the follow up album,’ Diary Of A Madman’, and recorded the thing in under three weeks! 1981 was the beginning of the end for Mk1 with Ozzy getting fed up with Daisley and Kerslake’s continuing demands.

What we have here is another fitting testament to the Mk 1 line up. Hot on the heels of Blizzard Of Ozz, ‘Diary Of A Madman’ picks straight up from where ’Blizzard’ left off – only this one is even better. ‘Over The Mountain’ is an amalgamation of Qzzy’s wailing vocals, Rhodes riffs bitch-slap you from here to eternity, and a pounding rhythm result in one great sophomore album. ‘Flying High Again’ ticks all the right boxes, Rhodes extended soloing and riffwork is excellent, the chorus gets under your skin like a parasite ( a good parasite!). ‘You Can’t Kill Rock And Roll’ is one of the stand out songs on ‘DOAM’. ‘Believer’ comes across as something that would be welcome on any previous Sabbath album, a dark and brooding riff opens up to Ozzy’s ™ vocals. Damn him, and his desire for ballads – The Prince of Darkness™ shouldn’t be seen (or heard) singing ballads. ‘Tonight’ is pretty much a filler for me. ‘S.A.T.O.s’ anacronym has been a puzzle to many fans over the years – it certainly kicks ass, so I don’t give a shit what it stands for. The album finishes with the title track. The intro was initially Rhodes messing around copying Mozart, but by the time it was laid down it bears little resemblance to his composition. The riff is certainly one of Rhodes best, and one of Ozzy’s best tracks, ever!

One thing is for certain, the flow of songs is much better than on the debut. But because of second album syndrome it has to live to the hype of the debut, which will never be matched. All in all ‘DOAM’ is a contender for being as solid as ‘Blizzard’, if not better in my opinion.

This Legacy Edition comes with an extra CD of live tracks recorded on the ‘Blizzard Of Ozz’ tour, with Tommy Aldridge and Rudy Sarzo replacing Kerslake and Daisley respectively

As with the debut, DOAM was also rerecorded in 2002, I strongly advise everone to stay away from these recordings. Like BOO buy this only if you’re not flushed at the moment. I would suggest saving for the mother of all remasters, for all serious fans and collectors, the limited edition 30th Anniversary deluxe boxed set whichhouses the restored and re-mastered vinyl and CD editions of Blizzard of Ozz and Diary of a Madman, the "Ozzy Live" compact disc.Beyond the music, the box set is highlighted by a variety of exclusives including an expansive 100-page coffee table book, a two-sided wall-size poster, a precise and detailed full-size replica of Ozzy's iconic gold cross that he has worn for 30 years, and “Thirty Years After The Blizzard” DVD.

This new “Thirty Years After The Blizzard”DVD chronicles Ozzy's years with Randy Rhoads features previously unseen footage of Ozzy and Randy filmed in 1981 & 1982; it incorporates rare archival photos and films; along with new and revelatory interviews with Ozzy and Sharon Osbourne, Lemmy (Motörhead), Steve Vai, Nikki Sixx, Rob Halford, Zakk Wylde, Bill Ward and more. The DVD also contains over 70 minutes of additional rare live performancesand interviews; included is the premiere of more than 30 minutes of newly-discovered never-bootlegged footage of Ozzy and Randy from the Blizzard of Ozz tour shot from the front of the stage at New York's fabled Palladium on May 2, 1981. This new feature is a must-see for aficionados of Ozzy's epic release, Blizzard of Ozz and its pivotal effect on rock & roll history.

Theres a couple of ‘if only’s’ – ‘if only’ Rhodes hadn’t have died in a freak accident, ‘if only’ Daisley and Kerslake hadn’t become unworkable, the 3rd Ozzy album would have been a doozy. This band was in the process of re-writing rock music in general. There aren’t many bands that have that on their CV